Answer: An independent variable is exactly what it sounds like. It is a variable that stands alone and isn’t changed by the other variables you are trying to measure. For example, someone’s age might be an independent variable.

Similarly, Which is the independent variable?

The independent variable is the variable the experimenter manipulates or changes, and is assumed to have a direct effect on the dependent variable. … In an experiment, the researcher is looking for the possible effect on the dependent variable that might be caused by changing the independent variable.

Additionally, How do you identify the independent and dependent variables?
Independent and dependent variables

  1. The independent variable is the cause. Its value is independent of other variables in your study.
  2. The dependent variable is the effect. Its value depends on changes in the independent variable.

How do you know if a variable is independent or dependent?

The dependent variable is the one that depends on the value of some other number. If, say, y = x+3, then the value y can have depends on what the value of x is. Another way to put it is the dependent variable is the output value and the independent variable is the input value.

What is the independent variable of the experiment?

Independent variables (IV): These are the factors or conditions that you manipulate in an experiment. Your hypothesis is that this variable causes a direct effect on the dependent variable. Dependent variables (DV): These are the factor that you observe or measure.

What is an independent variable in a study?

The independent variable (IV) is the characteristic of a psychology experiment that is manipulated or changed by researchers, not by other variables in the experiment. For example, in an experiment looking at the effects of studying on test scores, studying would be the independent variable.

What is independent and dependent variable in Research example?

Independent variable causes an effect on the dependent variable. Example: How long you sleep (independent variable) affects your test score (dependent variable). This makes sense, but: Example: Your test score affects how long you sleep.

What are some examples of independent and dependent variables?

Independent variable causes an effect on the dependent variable. Example: How long you sleep (independent variable) affects your test score (dependent variable). This makes sense, but: Example: Your test score affects how long you sleep.

How do you identify variables in research?

A variable in research simply refers to a person, place, thing, or phenomenon that you are trying to measure in some way. The best way to understand the difference between a dependent and independent variable is that the meaning of each is implied by what the words tell us about the variable you are using.

How do you know if two variables are dependent?

It is called a test of independence because “no relationship” means “independent.” If there is a relationship between the two variables in the population, then they are dependent.

How do you determine if two variables are independent?

Independence two jointly continuous random variables X and Y are said to be independent if fX,Y (x,y) = fX(x)fY (y) for all x,y. It is easy to show that X and Y are independent iff any event for X and any event for Y are independent, i.e. for any measurable sets A and B P( X ∈ A ∩ Y ∈ B ) = P(X ∈ A)P(Y ∈ B).

What are the 3 types of variables in an experiment?

There should be three categories of variables in every experiment: dependent, independent, and controlled. Dependent — is what will be measured; it’s what the investigator thinks will be affected during the experiment.

How do you identify the independent and dependent variables in a research study?


The variables in a study of a cause-and-effect relationship are called the independent and dependent variables.

  1. The independent variable is the cause. Its value is independent of other variables in your study.
  2. The dependent variable is the effect. Its value depends on changes in the independent variable.

How do you find the independent and dependent variables?

If, say, y = x+3, then the value y can have depends on what the value of x is. Another way to put it is the dependent variable is the output value and the independent variable is the input value. So for y=x+3, when you input x=2, the output is y = 5.

What is dependent variable in Research example?

The dependent variable is the variable that is being measured or tested in an experiment. 1 For example, in a study looking at how tutoring impacts test scores, the dependent variable would be the participants’ test scores, since that is what is being measured.

How do you identify independent and dependent variables in research?

An easy way to think of independent and dependent variables is, when you’re conducting an experiment, the independent variable is what you change, and the dependent variable is what changes because of that. You can also think of the independent variable as the cause and the dependent variable as the effect.

How do you explain independent and dependent variables?

The independent and dependent variables are the two key variables in a science experiment. The independent variable is the one the experimenter controls. The dependent variable is the variable that changes in response to the independent variable. The two variables may be related by cause and effect.

What is the difference between independent and dependent variable examples?

A dependent variable depends on an independent variable, while an independent variable depends on external manipulation. For example, when measuring how the speed of a car will affect the time it will take to reach a certain place, the time taken (dependent variable) depends on the speed (independent variable).

What are the 3 types of variables?

There are three main variables: independent variable, dependent variable and controlled variables. Example: a car going down different surfaces.

What is the independent variable for this experiment?

Independent variables (IV): These are the factors or conditions that you manipulate in an experiment. Your hypothesis is that this variable causes a direct effect on the dependent variable. Dependent variables (DV): These are the factor that you observe or measure.

What are examples of variables in research?

Categorical variables

Type of variable What does the data represent? Examples
Nominal variables Groups with no rank or order between them. Species names Colors Brands
Ordinal variables Groups that are ranked in a specific order. Finishing place in a race Rating scale responses in a survey*


21 nov. 2019

What are the types of variables in research?


Researchers organize variables into a variety of categories, the most common of which include:

  • Independent variables. …
  • Dependent variables. …
  • Intervening variables. …
  • Moderating variables. …
  • Control variables. …
  • Extraneous variables. …
  • Quantitative variables. …
  • Qualitative variables.

How do we classify variables?

Classifying variables can be somewhat contentious. Standard statistical textbooks will state that variables can be broadly classified as categorical or continuous. Categorical variables can be further categorised into nominal (e.g. ethnic group), ordinal (e.g. tumour staging) and dichotomous (e.g. sex).